Receptacle and separator for particles of gold and other precious metals



R.G.GRAHAM. RECEPTACLE AND SEPARATOR FOR PARTICLES-OF-`GOL"D AND OTHER PRECIOUS METALS.

APPLICATION FILED APR, IBI I9I9- Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

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WITNESSES ATTOR N EY bis ROBERT o. GRAHAM, or cnarrnrocea, .fissreivoa croira-.Heiland DAVE) STOKELY ETEEPJBGE, 0F CLTTANGOGAQ'TENNESSEE. Y

nnonr'rnonn AND snrAnAJroR ron; riin'rrcnss or AVodinnaivij ciiirregY PRECI'OUS iuiiiuelis.y

Appiication meiiiipyii is, isis. serial NO eeinei.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT lC. GRAHAM,

a citizen ofthe United States, Vresiding fat Chattanooga, inthe county oitV HamiltonV and? other precious metals, and its Objectis to llovide device of simple and inexpensive construction and or' light weight and of'relatively small size, especially adapted for use;

in connection with dentistry. The invention is capable of use either in the labora-V driven by a .source of power, such as an;

electric motor for laboratory work, or a dental engine for' work at the operating chair, may be temporarily located so that particles thrown ofi by the wheelsare caught 1 and directed to a suitable receptacle. TheV particles of precious metal are usually suiii-l ciently small to be termed dust. also other particles of larger size which may include plaster of Paris and the like by! which the articles-to be ground or polishedL rlie receptacle for the precious are carried. metals may bev and preferably is in the fori ci a drawer inclosedin a casing and fur-- nislied 'with a lock. T he casingV has fa hopper over the drawer, which hopper has a narrow opening,y at the bottoni, voit considerable length and only sufiicient'width to pass the line particles of metal while prt-ventingv the passage or" larger particles oi worthless material. The hood with which thel device is provided is so shaped as to catchv pract1- .remain inthe'hopp'er. "Such-'coarser partihowever, that the invention is not conlinedience, be inade of. generally Y rectangular There are'. -v shape` althoughk such yp articularV shap'e'is not *Y Specification of Letters Patent. Pwtgntgd APRI 5,V

callyV all particles thrown' on". bythev .wheels and 'direct such particles into ,the Vhopper fi"omwliich the line particles pass into the closed receptacle while the coarser particlesY cles are easily disposed of simply turning the device on one sine or evenV upside. down, since thestructure is such that any inaterial passingY through the hopper open-v ingwil-l not return therethrough. f

The' invention will bel best understood ironia consideration'of theifollowing@de- I Y tailed description talren in connection 'with l the accompanying'drawing forming part of this specicatiomwith the understanding,

to` any'strict conformity with the sliowingV ofthe drawing, but maybe `changed and"v modified so long as such changes 'andm'odiii-f cations inarlr no material departure Jironi the salient features of the: invention as VeXfl pressed in the appendedclaims., e ln the drawing Y. v y Figure lv isa perspective view of a receptacle embodying the invention and show-gl ingit inconnection with an electric motor, which latter is indicated inY dotted lines.

F ig. y2 isa irontito rearverjtical centralV section through the` device, "drawn vonf-a largerscalethan Fig, 1; V'f' j i fj i? ig. 3 isa section on the line ot Fis-2. i l t Referring to the drawing, there is Shown a body member-l"whicliniayfor convenir VY obligatoryj ylhe body member Vis provided with a bottoinQ'Fand a Jfront"portion 3 hav-j ing an opening tot suiicient heightto 'per-'g mit the introduccion into ',.the body member 9o .oi a, drawer 5 which may, be long Y enoughto reach from lthe :front to therear of the interior ot thebody portion. The' drawer, is provided with astaple 5a andthe body4l` portion at thev front is provided with la hasp 95 6 so that when the draweris within the body Y L y portion and `the(lia'spQis closed'down over Vthe staple avpadlocln( may be appliecl,-there by holding th'edrawer in'place. The lo'clrv arrangement shownisto be taken as indica-V 100Y soi y50 other particles.

i n 55 portion ofy its length.

tive of any suitable lock arrangementl and:

Vas in nowise confining the invention to the particular' structure of lock shown in the drawing. Y

5 VVVThe body 1 is shown in the drawing as Somewhat elongated, and rising from that end of the body remote from the lock end is a hood 7a curved into an overhang 8 at a suitable distance above 'the body portion and 10 projecting toward the forward or lock end of the body portion for an appropriate distance, somewhat more than half the lengthv of the body having been found, in practice, to be sufficient. The overhang has a curved i5 rear wall 9 with the axis of curvature about coincident with a point about half-way between the front andV rear of the body portion and 'at a suitable distance above the-body Y portion..lv The forward end of the overhang 8 has a Fpendent wall 10 forming ay closure therefor and terminating in a return flange 11 directed toward the wall 9. Furthermore, the overhang is provided with side walls i2 each having a cutout 13 curved about concentric with the rear wall 9, but these side walls have a. forward extension 14 at the lower ends merging into the top edges of the 'side wallsy of the body portion'.

l The top of the body portion is closed by 302e, hopper 15 having slanting side walls 1G and slanting end walls 17 all converging toward a longitudinal upright plane about central to the bodyv portion. The slam-ing` rside walls 16 of the hopper closely approach at their lower edges but do not quite meet.

thereby providing a `narrow longitudinal slot 18 opening into the interior o f the body 1 so that the hopper dischargers into the drawer 5 when the latter is in place, Be'- cause of the convergence of the slanting walls 16 and 173 which approach don-'inward'ly, thefslot .is of less length Vthan the topY of the hopper and consequently'of less Y length than the bodyl inemherl, while theconvergence orapproa'ch ofthe lower ends of the walls 16 and 17 cause allniaterials falling onf these walls to gravitate to the slot 18, which latter passes all particles sufficiently fine huty prevents the passage of The elongation of the slot 1,8 is in the direction of the length of the' body and is arranged inthe longitudinal center thereof. The hood overhangs the slot for the major At the vback of the body member 17there is' securedv a hook 19 so shaped and posi-v tioned as to readily engage a'belt'orother Y holding device on the body of the user, thus '60 permitting the hands of the Yuser to be ontirely freeso far as the ,deviceisfCOncerned,

When the device is to be used in a laboratory the grinding, polishing, or other operations are performed by suitable tool, in-

V` dicated in dotted lines at 2O in Figs. 1 and 2, and the tool is attached to the armature shaft 21 of'an electric kmotor 22. Under such circumstances the motor, which is usu-` ally made fast toa table 23 or other support, has the device of the invention so situated with respect'to it that the armature shaft with `the tool thereon will project into thehood 7 through one or the other of the openings 13, so as to be about in the axis of curvature of such openings and of the wall 9. It will be understood, of course, that the device of the invention-will then be supported upon the table 23.

While the tool 20 may Ahe made to operate upon any suitable work, it may be considered', for convenience of description, that the 4purpose of the invention is to save preto an extent along the curved inner facethereof toward the end 8 of the hood. Ul-

timately the impetus impartedrto such par-l ticles 'is lost and the particles gi'avitate into the hopper 15 and'then down'tlie walls 16Y or "17 as the case may be, to the slot 18. The operation is such that only extremely 'fine particles .of precious metal are dislodged froin the work and thrown against the hood, but it also occurs that coarser particles of plaster of Paris or other materialsY used in dental work are also detached and y impelled into the hood. Such coarser particles follow. a pathsimilar to that of the line gold particles, but, on account of their size,`,

the particles of debris are too "large to pass through the slot 18 and hence are retained inthe hopper.

The hood not only catchesparticles that.

are' detached from the `article being treated, but, on account of theiside `wings 12 ofthe hood, Vspread of such particles beyond the area of the hopper is prevented and so therek is; practically nol loss of precious metal in the operations performed upon'the work.k The fine particles of precious metal readily` find their. way into the linterior of the body portion or container-land `the debris which is retained by the hopper` is readily discharged bythe simple expedient of tipping the hopper Vto one side when the debris willv spill out of; the hopper, while the gold,v

iio ii5 which has passed throughA the hopperintoy Y the drawer, vcannot escape."v This last feature is present whether the hopper be' pur-v posely V turned over to discharge the debris or whether it be accidentally knocked over.

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may replace the motor QQ-and gold inlays and crowns may be polished at the chair, the removed gold being caught by the device of the invention when carried by the belt of the operator, leaving the hands free for other purposes than holding the device.

The structure not only catches the goldA but holds back the debris so that the latter may be discarded without loss of values, this being an important advantage of the invention. The arrangement whereby the device may be attached to the belt of the user or to any part of the clothing capable of supporting the device is also an important advantage. The capability of locking the interior of the device against unauthorized access is of importance since it is not infrequent in large establishments for operators to appropriate the gold which heretofore has been considered as waste. The invention provides for the saving of such gold. IThe portability of the device and the possibility of using it either in the laboratory or at the chair is a decided advantage since it provides for the saving of values where the inconvenience of the usual arrangements for operating upon the work would preclude any attempt at saving. Y

Furthermore, the device has the advantage of saving the gold in the dry state and practically free from debris so that the utilization of the saved values is greatly simplified.

The invention while described as especially designed for dentists is well adapted to jewelers use and others who work inprecious metals.

What is claimed is 1. A device for the purpose described comprising a closed receptacle provided at its top with a hopper, said hopper comprising four downwardly converging walls of relatively easy descent leading toV a narrow elongated opening for the receptacle, said opening being of such width as to allow only particles of dust-like ineness to pass, and a hood rising from the receptacle over the hopper and spaced from and overhanging the opening for a portion of its length, with one side of the hood open to admit a polishing or grinding tool, whereby particles removed in theact of polishing or grinding are caught by the hood and directed into the hopper.

apart to form a narrow slot opening into the interior of the body member, said slot being elongatedin the direction of the length of the body, and a hood erected on one end of the body and rising into overhanging relation thereto, said hood comprising a. curved rear wall, two side walls, and a front end wall, the latter having aninturned flange, the side walls rising from the sides of the body member and having their front edges curved, whereby a rotary tool may be located within the hood above the slot to catch particles disengaged from the work by said tool and direct them into the hopper.

A device for the purpose described comprising an elongated receptacle with a top formed hopper-shaped having downwardly converging sides and downwardly slanting ends which approach but do not Vtouch forming an elongated slot which eX-V tends lengthwise ofthe receptacle, means for obtaining access to said receptacle, and

a curved hood rising from one end ofthe receptacle and having its sides extending partially along the sides of the receptacle, said hood overhanging the slot and spaced from the same, both the rear wall of the hood and the sides being curved, said hood being shaped to receive a grinding or polishing tool in substantially the axis of curvature, whereby particles dislodged from work by said tool will be arrested by the curved hood and directed into the hopper and passY through the slot into the receptacle.

4:. A device for the purpose described comprising an elongated receptacle with a hopper structure constituting the top of the receptacle and provided withv converging side and end walls, with the side walls separated at the lower end to form a narrow slot elongated in the direction of the length of the receptacle and of a width to pass fine particles only, and a hood rising from one end of the receptacle and curving forwardly toward the other end and thereby forming an overhang above and along-the slot, said hood having side walls extending along the sides of the receptacle and cut-out into substantial conformity with the curvature of the hood, whereby a grinding or polishing tool may be located over the slot in substantially the axis of curvature of the hood and fine particles dislodged from the work treated by the grinding or polishing tool may be projected into the hood for nal dleposition into the `receptacle through the s ot.

5. A device for the purpose described comprising a receptacle with a curved hood rising from one end and overhanging toward the other end, and a hook at the end of the receptacle from Which the hood rises for attaching the receptacle to the body of the user With the hood directed away from the user, said receptacle haying an opening in the top under the hood for directing ma.- terial into the receptacle, and a drawer in the kreceptacle at the end remote from the hoo In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aihxed my signature. 10

ROBERT C. GRAHAM.

Witnesses Z. MCSPADDEN, EVAN C. HASKELL. 

